We encountered the Mosquito Orchid in early June but they flower anytime from April through to August. They are the most beautiful shade of maroon.
Several tiny maroon flowers emerge from a short 15 cm stem facing north, south, east and west. Can you guess which insect pollinates these orchids. You guessed it! Mosquitoes.
A heart shaped leaf encircles the stem.
Mosquito Orchids can be identified before they flower by the heart-shaped leaf and their maroon underside. They grow in colonies beneath brush in moist, shaded areas.
By the end of August, the flowers were spent and the pollination of the mosquito was done. Now we wait as a miracle is performed and a seed is created to grow a new orchid for the following season. In the mean time, a moment is caught in my nature journal.
Walk with me as we follow Amy Mack through the season in her nature diary, A Bush Calendar.
Amy Mack is a favourite Aussie author who captured the Australian bush through the seasons. In this guide, we walk alongside Amy as she identifies wildflowers and observes nesting birds through the year. We can choose to investigate Amy’s nature finds with field guides indoors or explore a local park for wildflowers and wildlife while recording our own sightings in a year’s cycle.
Listen to bird melodies while enjoying an outdoor breakfast or take a sunset walk and collect nature treasures to journal. Learn to identify birds with song and field marks while bird stalking. Observe wildflowers bud, blossom and seed while examining their flower and leaf arrangements.
Capture birds and wildflowers within a nature journal with sketches and paintings, or a nature scrapbook with photographs on a weekly basis. Alternatively, explore the bush once a month and create a Penology Wheel to record your sightings.
A Handbook to A Bush Calendar by Amy Mack is a year’s nature study curriculum which is flexible; explore indoors or out, weekly or monthly. The guide features poems from C.J. Dennis and optional literature from Nuri Mass and Amy Mack. Explore the outdoors with living books.
VIEW SAMPLE : A Handbook for Amy Mack
